Manchester United return to Premier League action on Monday night when we’re at Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.
The squad will have had a good rest having not played since last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea. That result at Old Trafford kept us in second place and extended our lead over Chelsea to six points – the difference between Champions League football and not right now.
Speaking at today’s pre-match press conference ahead of our trip to Crystal Palace, Jose Mourinho gave a team news and injury update.
The boss says that Marouane Fellaini is only a couple of weeks away from making his return. The Belgian international has not featured since his cameo substitute appearance versus Tottenham Hotspur on 31 January – missing all five of our matches in February with a knee injury.
Jose said a potential Champions League quarter-final tie or FA Cup semi-final would be the earliest possible return dates for Mourinho. The Portuguese coach told MUTV:
“He’s still a young player, his injury had a little surgery, but a minor surgery, and he will be back to play again in a couple of weeks.
“If we proceed in the Champions League beyond Sevilla, I think he will be ready for a hypothetical quarter-final. He will be ready for a hypothetical FA Cup semi-final. He will be ready for the last couple of months of our Premier League fight.”
Jose Mourinho also confirmed that none of the players who were unavailable last weekend will be available this weekend either. Defenders Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind are therefore ruled out. We are hopeful that Eric Bailly will be fit to start after featuring for the final 10 minutes against Chelsea last weekend.
The recently sidelined Ander Herrera joins Zlatan Ibrahimovic as our other two absentees for Monday night’s game. Mourinho added:
“No Phil Jones, no Marcos Rojo, no Daley Blind,” he said. “We don’t have them. So the situation hasn’t changed. The squad is the same.”
Crystal Palace head into the weekend only outside the relegation zone on goal difference. Should Swansea City avoid defeat at home to West Ham United tomorrow or Stoke City win at Southampton on the same day then Roy Hodgson’s side will start the game in the bottom three. They are winless in their last five.
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